Separation

Digital photography. Limited edition prints 128 x 200 cm

Once upon a time there was a wise school teacher. An artist, seeking answers to important questions came to him. The teacher listened to him and offered to check how attentive he was. He gave him a task: to find and list all the blue objects at the exhibition of Russian opposition artists in de Balie. The artist tried hard, went around the exhibition space, checked every art object. When artist was ready and approached the teacher, he asked:
- "Did you remember all the blue objects well?"
- "Yes," answered the artist.
- "Then list all the brown objects in this space..."

Our attention can be compared to binoculars or a magnifying glass. When we really want to look for something specific, we lose everything else. Therefore, the state of presence, if you understand what I mean, has a "relaxed" attention, evenly distributed in the space of perception. For our development, it is much more important to notice and understand why we direct entire self into something and stubbornly ignore something else.

So, the creator decided that every individual human being has to pass the stage called "Separation". Most often, this term is used in relation to a child who realizes at a certain moment individual self, separate from its parents, with its own desires, thoughts and values. In the “Confluence” state that preceded it, they are also present, but they are not considered valuable, because they do not help survival, and sometimes even hinder it, because in order to survive, the child needs love of parents, and therefore tries to be identical with them. Ideally, the parents help to separate, but in reality, especially if they did not complete separation themselves, they mostly get in the way. Therefore, the separation stretches over time for years and decades, and even by the end of life, only a few people manage to separate their own self from their parents, living only in their heads. We are drawn to Confluence, because in our experience lives a memory of the heavenly period of life, when all needs were satisfied. In fact, behind the separation lies our self-worth, and all the popular labels such as finding yourself, or getting out of toxic relationships, abusers and victims ultimately lead to this. Many people try, but separation can be said to have happened only when we stop hating and taking revenge on those from whom or what we are separating. The desire to change parents, claims to them, will be manifested as claims to everyone around, especially to partners. And the more time and energy we spend trying to make someone else change, the less time and energy we have to change the only person we can change - ourselves. As before, we will always look for culprits and compare ourselves with others. Only by accepting the world around us as it is, do we truly begin to live our own lives. This applies equally to the individual as well as to society and culture. Because it’s not only individual who strives for separation and self-worth. There are feminists and former colonies and Ukrainian society with its culture and art doing the same. Will you ignore it?